Chapter No 1

The whole room was filled with her desperate pleas and cries. Last night she had dinner with her father and in the morning he was no more.

"Dad wake up! Open your eyes"

"Mom look at him!! Wake him up! He will wake up!!" She turned towards her mother who looked almost lifeless showing her state of stupor.

"Dad , my dad, don't leave me alone. What I'll do with out you?"

Her eyes were red and her whole form was shaking with her sobs.

Her father died due to heart attack, the reason of his heart attack was due to constant stress and hypertension which increased the blood pressure and eventually myocardial infraction.

"Its time for the janaza" her cousin, Nick spoke from behind which made her cling to his father's dead body like her life was dependent on it.

"No! No! He is alive!! I won't let him go! Please don't take him!!" Her aunt moved forward to help her to get off her fathers body with full resistance she finally moved and hugged her aunt tightly and cried on her shoulders.

The men in the house took the janaza and headed for the graveyard while she cried and cried till her tears dried down. Her mother couldn't seemed to get out of the trauma and immediately locked herself in the room after all the guests left which come for funeral. She took sleeping pills to escape the reality, leaving her only daughter on her own self.

It was noon but Rose still has locked her self in her room. She could not accept the fact that her father is no more. The bitter reality was eating her from inside deepening the hollow pit hi her heart in which she was encaged from the last 5 years. Her parents was all she had. That doesn't matter to her that they were poor but she only craved for happiness and attention from her parents. After her fathers death she only wanted to die along with him. She had no wish to alive. She was so connected with her father and always tried to do anything to make him happy. She always looked up to him and wanted to be like him. A man full of self respect and dignity who would do anything for his family.

She was just thinking about the memories she had created with her father and that made a fit of sobs hit her hard. And big sobs raked her whole form and she was a crying mess noW. A knock on the door ceased her sobbing and diverted her attention. She only wished her

father is knocking on the door.

"Who is there"? she asked in her heavy voice which was all hoarse due to crying.

" Its me, Nick"

"Nick," she whispered.

On realising he stood there, she immediately stood up and ran towards the door, unlocked it and gave Nick a bone crushing hug. Her emotions took a toll and she started to cry wholeheartedly on his shoulder. He was left

bewildered, it was the first time, her love had hugged her or touched her. Nonethless, he patted her back to soothe her. His heart Wrenched on seeing her vulnerable state.

Nick was her cousin by her mother's side and they both deeply loved each other. When her parents were working hard to earn money he was always there to dismiss her loneliness and gave her the best company ever and since then they both realised they were in love and there relationship begin. He was the only men whom Rose trusted other than her father. Despite being in relationship, Rose did'nt permit him ever not to touch her in any way neither she allowed him to even hold hera hand.

"Shhh Rose,  Dont cry." Nick said in a soothing manner.

"Everything will be fine"

"How come I don't cry? My father left me leaving me all alone" With that her sobbing

renewed.

"I am with you Rose and always will be by your side"

"Never leave me alone Nick I cannot live without you" Rose said.

"Promise me you'll never leave me"

"I promise, I swear on my life I will never leave you but first relax and calm down.

Please stop crying Rose, my love" Nick Cooed her.

"Ehm Ehm" someone faked cough as a gesture to make there presence known.

 

She reached  for her dupatta which was on bed inside the room.

"Umm hi Shoaib bro" She said in her heavy voice and her eyes casted to floor. Anyone could easily say she was nervous.

"Hi" He turned to Nick, "Nick mother is calling you downstairs. Go now"

Nick nodded and headed to downstairs. Rose on noticing that she'll be alone with Shoaib immediately tried to followed Nick and when she walk past Shoaib, he abruptly grabbed her elbow and whiffed in her fragnance to intimidate her. Rose forcefully

let her hand go of him and ran downstairs. While he only smirked as he has won something.

She was facing this harassment for last 5 years. Whenever she went to her aunts place his eldest son, Shoaib would harass her. But she kept quite because she thought at the end

she will be one accused of a bad character. Moreover her parents used to be too busy to give her any time and they lost her trust. She became hesitant about telling anything to her parents and they were also covered in heaps of works to note any changes in her daughter. Rose noticed that her parents were over burdened on something so she does not wanted to increase there burden and henceforth kept quite.

And for last 5 years, continuous harassment and her parents negligence made her nature introverted. She no longer was an extrovert girl who wanted to live her life to fullest. A feeling of dread always crept over her nerves whenever any male was around. She did not trust anyone easily especially men. The harassment led her mind to create a haunting perception about men in her mind and she always tried to get away when any unfamiliar person was around her. She judged all men with a same eye. The eye that was born as a result of harassment.

Regarding males, she only trusted her father and Nick.

"Amarra everything will be fine, have faith in God"

Right now, they were sitting in the drawing room and her aunt was sitting beside her mother and was consoling her.

"Neelam ,How will everything be alright? What will I do without my Inayat? I will not be able to do anything without him" Her mother cried on her sister's shoulder.

"Believe in God. Be patient" Neelam consoled her sister.

Rose came and sat beside her mother on the couch to comfort her but tears again brimmed in her eyes making a sharp pain in her nose indicating she is at verge of crying and at last she could'nt hold her emotions and salty tears cascaded down her eyes soaking her cheeks. She only wanted to be strong at least in front of her mother but her emotions could not seem to get in control.

Her father was her life and she never once thought what her life would be without her father. The mere thought of it always made her depressed but now her life took the biggest turn leaving her in a blind alley. Currently, she had no goal nor any will to live. And she was praying for her death in order to

meet her father.

"Mommy, please stop crying," she beseeched, while she herself was crying her eyes out.

Her mother laid her head on her lap and gently caressed her long brown locks to ease her. But Rose did'nt have it and begin to cry out loudly. Her body shuddered with big sobs flushing her face red. She cried her heart out on her mothers lap and at last sleep engrossed her.

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Her eyes fluttered open and she found herself in her room. Her head was aching so bad while her whole face seemed to be freeze. Then reality hit her hard and what she thought was a dream actually happened, her father was no more with her. Before her emotions could control her, she heard unfamiliar voices coming from downstairs. She thought that they must be the people came for condolences but there voices and the vicious way with which they were talking tell another story.

She grabbed her dupatta and headed downstairs. She was halfway through the staircase when she could clearly hear them.

"We want the rest of our money back," a goony voice demanded.

"How could we even give back this much money when you clearly know that all we have is this house. Why don't you go and ask Asim? the desperate voice of her mother had her eyes widened. She did'nt know what was happening and what money were they asking

for.

"Asim told us that you have the money and all the papers had Mujtaba Shabbir Syed name not Asim's" another voice snapped.

"Asim made us sign those papers we only demanded for 1 million not 20 millions, which we ourselves know we are not able to pay."

"We dont care our boss only wants the money. And its, up to you to pay back us our money in the given time"

"How could we gather this big amount of money, it will almost take a lifetime to pay back the rest. For last 5 years we made all possible efforts but it is next to impossible to gather this much money in such a short span which you are asking"

"Either you give us this house or return our money" After hearing this Rose was left bewildered and immediately ran toward TV lounge, from where the voices were coming. She was hysterical at the moment and did'nt care about the outcome. She only did what she wanted and what she wanted was those people

to leave her house, immediately.

"NO!! LEAVE US AND OUR HOUSE NOW!" she shouted frantically.

All the heads immediately turned towards her. Her mother, her aunt, Shoaib and Nick were there. Those two goons eyed her lustily and exchanged glances with each other showing that a mischevious plan hit them.

"Rose, go inside" Nick seethed after noticing those two man exchanging glances.

"NOW!" he boomed. Rose jumped but did'nt back off.

"First ask them to leave our house. NOW!" she said with the same ntensity.

"Lets make a deal," one of those men suddenly said.

"What deal?" Shoaib asked.

"Either you give us this house," he looked around.

"Or what?" Neelam challenged.

The men looked at her then at Rose,

"or hand over this girl to us"

Everyone visibly gasped out of shock.

"Now its up to you what you would like us to give"

"Take this house but dont dare to even look at my daughter. I will claw your eyes out." Amarra deadpanned looking straight in there eyes.

"Two days," he raised his two fingers, "we give you only two days to leave this place." and with that those two men left the house.

Rose was traumatised, it was a thunderbolt for her. She never knew such inhumanity exists. She stood baffled at her place for good two minutes. But her aunt's question took her out of her trauma and now she was anxious.

"Where will you go, Amarra?" Neelam asked.

"You can stay at our house, Aunt"Shoaib

said.

Rose knew the hidden motive behind his

suggestion. He only wanted to be close to her so that he could easily do whatever he wanted to do with her.

"But I think Waqas won't allow it. You can stay at our place for a week, for a month even I want you to stay for the whole life but still omer-" Amarra voice cut shot her sentence.

Waqas was Neelam's husband. He was a very greedy person and a penny pincher and if he let Ammara and Rose live in his house he definitly humilate them on every step they take and Ammara clearly knew that.

"I know where we will go," Ammara told.